In the modern world the vast majority of clothing is made from woven fabrics, and the art of weaving is many centuries old. Indeed the invention of weaving is generally attributed to the Ancient Egyptians. Yarns were produced from natural cotton, wool, or linen fibers, and garments made from fabrics woven from these yarns often creased badly in wear and, when washed or dry cleaned, required considerable time and effort with a steam pressing machine or iron to restore them to a pristine appearance.
With the increasing standard of living, there has been a general demand for a release from the labor involved in pressing cleaned clothes. At the same time the increased cost of labor has raised the expense of laundry and commercial dry cleaning considerably. This has resulted in additional pressure being brought to bear on textile technologists to produce fabrics and garments that can be simply cleaned and are ready to wear, and will keep a good appearance during wear.
Textile manufacturers have implemented two major improvements in wash-and-wear garments: (1) the use of cross-linking resins on cotton containing garments, and (2) the use of synthetics and synthetic blends. Although these two implementations have made major strides in reducing the wrinkling of a garment, consumers are still dissatisfied with the results and demand pressing after a cleaning operation.
Starch has been used for many years in fabric treatment to restore and retain them in a pristine appearance.